It is nearly five years since Robin van Persie’s defection to Manchester United. Having waited so long to adequately replace him, you can forgive Arsene Wenger for at least exploring the possibility of signing Kylian Mbappe. Arsenal have made do with stop-gap solutions for too long, but at this critical juncture in the club’s modern history, the consequences of being led a summer-long merry dance could be catastrophic.
For all of Arsenal’s defensive failings in the intervening years, their collective mental lapses and inherent propensity to self-harm, it is the lack of a razor sharp finisher and absence of a multi-faceted line leader that has undermined their ability to compete with the very best.
Danny Welbeck (not prolific enough), Olivier Giroud (too slow), Alexis Sanchez, (undisciplined) are Wenger’s current options but two of those men are unlikely to be at the club come the start of the new campaign, while the other has started just 33 Premier League games in his three seasons at the club.
Ignoring the romantic red-tinted comparisons with Thierry Henry, the allure of Mbappe is almost overwhelming. Pace, stealth, intelligence and a shade of va-va-voom make him the ideal candidate to spearhead a new-look Arsenal.
Sadly for Wenger, Mbappe is no Nicolas Anelka, languishing in the obscurity of Paris Saint-Germain’s reserves, nor is he Henry, looking for a mentor to coach him out of the hole he found himself in at Juventus.
The Monaco striker bears all the hallmarks of a Galactico in waiting, not Europe’s best kept secret, as he was when Wenger visited him at his home last summer.
Wenger should be applauded for a measure of ambition but if there is even the slightest hint of Arsenal being used as a pawn in a bigger game of transfer chess between Europe’s traditional big spenders he must abandon ship.
A failure to land Gonzalo Higuain in the summer of 2013 after becoming embroiled in a PR disaster with Liverpool over Luis Suarez’s less than watertight release clause undermined a genuine chance of winning the Premier League title. History cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
Arsenal’s entire summer strategy appears to be on hold until they receive a definitive answer to their Mbappe pursuit.
Aside from the futures of Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, Arsenal are still to agree terms with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, all of whom are in a similarly precarious contract situations. If their futures are not being treated as priorities, what message does it send?
Meanwhile, Arsenal have been handed an extremely attractive forward option in the shape of Alexandre Lacazette on a plate following the collapse of his move to Atletico Madrid.
Mbappe lite he might be, but realism and decisiveness are the qualities Wenger must exude over the course of the next fortnight. Putting the Lyon striker on hold, while he waits for an answer on Plan A is surely a gamble not worth taking.
Wenger’s obsession with Mbappe could not contrast more starkly with his old foe Jose Mourino’s heart of stone when faced with a similar conundrum over Cristiano Ronaldo.
After initially green lighting a move for the Manchester United icon, Mourinho quickly called a halt when he got even the merest hint his club were being used as a tool to engineer a bigger payday.
United’s scattergun approach to transfers under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal set them back half a decade according to Mourinho and he cannot afford any missteps of his own this summer after what can only be described as an adequate first season in charge, despite the additions to the club’s trophy cabinet.
Mourinho is acting with a precision and decisiveness Wenger could well learn from. Victor Lindelof has been recruited from Benfica to complement Eric Baily at the heart of United’s defence, while Fabinho and Nemanja Matic appear to have been identified as the midfielders with the qualities to help get the very best out of Paul Pogba.
After a brief flirtation with Ronaldo, Mourinho will press ahead with a move for Alvaro Morata, a striker with the ideal profile to compensate for the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and add an extra dimension to the most wasteful attack in the league last season.
It would represent perhaps the biggest coup of Wenger’s career were he to somehow convince Mbappe that a club which was rejected by Jamie Vardy last summer and is likely to lose its best player to Manchester City this, is the best place for his development, stealing him from under Real Madrid’s noses without even the carrot of Champions League football to dangle.
Put in that context, you have to wonder what they’re smoking over at the Emirates again.
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